Strange and Twisted***Story of Cedar and Zion~
by Varis Anubi
Summary: chap 6//She squeezed her eyes shut remembering how awful her mother had looked before she died. Her skin was charred and burned, deep cracks of flesh covered in blood all over her body. She had been in so much pain.//chap 6 ohhh who's mom could that be? i
1. CHAPTER UNO

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Disclaimer: I do not own FFIX Square does but the children are mine mostly let's just put it this way all the peeps that you have a clue as to who they are belong to Square but the peeps that make you go who the hell is that? Those are mine so enjoy!!!

Dedication****I dedicate this to Cedar she isn't a real person but she has inspired my life.

__________________________________**CHAPTER UNO**____________________________________

"Aah crap dead end, knew I shoulda studied the map," the tiger-tailed girl muttered to herself as she ran into a stone wall in the dank bowels of the Treno mansion.

"Stop where you are thief!" cried the guard that had been chasing the spry teen.

"I'll give ya one thing you guys are damn persistent," the girl said shrinking into the corner of the wall. 

"Don't spose we could make some sort of arrangement," she purred innocently batting her large blue-green eyes at the man.

"You give me this useless ol' staffy thing and I'll give you anything you want," she said still crouching in the corner.

"Well, I suppose we could work things out," the guard said moving closer to the masked beauty.

"Hah, I'll give you another," the girl said smiling sweetly.

"What's tha-," the guard cut off suddenly realizing the dagger buried into his gut. He fell to the ground blossoms of red sprouting from behind his fingers that clutched the lethal wound.

"Your all dumbasses," the girl smiled stepping over the man. 

"You'll be dead by the time they find you but please tell Hades that you were vanquished by the respectable Cedar Page prize thief of Tantalus," she said turning away down the hall.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way," she yelled over her shoulder.

Cedar ran down the exit hall she could see the escape hatch.

"Hey!" came the assertive voice of an elite.

Cedar spun to face the guard who had a foreign weapon pointed at her.

"Oh, shit," she breathed, calmly looking at the man with no fear.

"Hey stupid!" came the voice of a tiny creature that sprung from the ceiling knocking the guard out and landing on the ground with perfect agility.

"Perfect timing, as usual Fayore," Cedar smiled as the tiny purple and blue Carbuncle hopped up onto her shoulder.

"Of course!" grinned the little animal

"Ladies, can we pat each others backs later? We need to get outta here," came the voice of the red mage called Crow. He was at the exit holding the door open.

"Right, right God Crow, your almost as bad as Blank," Cedar quipped walking towards the exit Fayore perched tentively on her shoulder.

"Let's go fast," Crow said staring into the dark again before shutting the big wooden door.

Cedar climbed into the little boat that would take them to the ship back to headquarters. She turned the small silver tube in her hand as the boat departed. 

"I can't believe I went through that hell for this what is it anyway?" Cedar wondered aloud.

"It's a very powerful weapon and Blank wanted to get a hold of one for some reason," the red mage said to no one in particular.

"What the hell is Dad up to?" Cedar muttered.

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Author's note: garsh I just noticed how incredibly short this chap is… I'm feeling bad now… well that's easily remedied I'll post the next one too!!! Mebbe the one after that!!!!


	2. CHAPTER DUOS

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Disclaimer: I do not own FFIX Square does but the children are mine mostly let's just put it this way all the peeps that you have a clue as to who they are belong to Square but the peeps that make you go who the hell is that? Those are mine so enjoy!!!

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Dedication: this I dedicate to Blank for not getting mad for me pegging him with a psychopathic cat girl as his daughter.

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____________________________**CHAPTER DUOS**________________________________________

14 years ago---

Blank and Ruby were on their way back to Lindblum from visiting Zidane and Dagger who had just recently had their second child.

It had been a lovely day so Blank and Ruby had decided to ride a chocobo from the Gargan Roo to Lindblum since it was so nice.

As they rode the yellow-tailed creature they talked about having children someday.

Then Blank had heard a noise like crying. He put his finger to Ruby's lips silencing her rambling.

"Do you hear that?" Blank asked

"What?" his wife quired.

"It sounded like a baby crying," he whispered searching for the sound again.

"Over there!" Ruby cried pointing off to the west.

Blank steered the chocobo to where the sound came from. He spotted the tiny form lying in the grass and jumped off the chocobo.

He looked to where the form was and to his amazement there was a tiny girl sitting in the grass with what seemed to be a purple rabbit.

When Blank got closer the little girl spotted him she immediately stopped crying and smiled looking up at him with large blue-green eyes. 

Blank then noticed the girl had a tail, like the Genomes but it was auburn with stripes her hair was the same.

He gently lifted the girl the little rabbit clinging to her shoulder.

"Oh my gawd that's a lil' girl," Ruby said walking over.

"No kidding looks like her name's Cedar," Blank said to his wife pointing at the name sewn across her dirty overalls.

"An' this lil' bugger's name is Fayore," Ruby said reading the rabbit like creature's collar.

Blank shook his head in disbelief.

"Guess we better take care of these guys till we can find the parents,"

"Yeah, hey darlin' think this is a sign?" Ruby said following Blank back to the chocobo.

"Maybe..." he replied placing the girl in his wife's arms.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

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Weird, Blank thought. _Ever since we found Cedar in the field I don't remember her crying not once._

The thought of the day when they had found the child in the grassy plain had reminded him of that. The long reminiscing was cut off by his daughter's entrance.

"Hellllooooo, we're back!" She yelled her voice ringing through the newly renovated headquarters.

"Dad! Where are ya?" she yelled again.

Blank sighed and gazed at the picture of his dearly departed wife.

"She has your charm my dear," he muttered to the picture rising from his seat.

"Cedar keep your voice down you'll wake Nin," he yelled down over the balcony.

"Your yellin' too so I wouldn't talk!" Cedar snipped back. Blank shook his head at the girl and walked towards the stairs to the lower room.

By the time he got there his daughter and her two friends were already sprawled out around the room. When Cedar saw him walk in she sat up in her chair from her usual one foot over the arm position. 

"We got it," she smiled holding up the small silver stick. Blank smiled and took the weapon from his daughter.

"Great," he said looking it over carefully searching for the catch.

"So, uh what is it?" Cedar asked staring at Blank her gaze never faltering.

"It's called an Bladaff," he muttered finding the button and pressing it.

"So what does it- hey!" Cedar said stopping abruptly as the stick extended into a staff two razor sharp blades emerging from either end.

"Hey that kicks ass! A double edged sword compact!" The girl said standing from her seat.

"Yeah. This is a really great weapon developed by those guys back at the mansion, think you can handle it?" Blank said retracting the staff and turning to his daughter.

"What?! Your gonna give me that cool weapon?" Cedar said shocked. Blank placed the Bladaff in his daughter's hands, smiling.

"Happy Birthday," he said. Cedar smiled and threw her arms around Blank's neck.

"Thank you, Daddy," she whispered into his ear.

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Author's note: well that's a bit moa acceptable but I'm still gonna put in the next chap cuz I'm so insane =D


	3. CHAPTER TRES

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Disclaimer: I do not own FFIX Square does but the children are mine mostly let's just put it this way all the peeps that you have a clue as to who they are belong to Square but the peeps that make you go who the hell is that? Those are mine so enjoy!!!

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Dedication: I dedicate this chap to the adorable, witless Zion. He has this sweetness bout him that I love and no it's not cuz I'm the one who made him up!!!

________________________________**CHAPTER TRES**________________________________________

"Okay now you try," Zidane said putting the bow on the ground and turning to his son. The boy nodded and raised his own bow. He carefully positioned the arrow on the string. He sighted the target with one brown eye and drew the string back.

*Thhwip* 

The arrow flew through the air hitting the large round target.

"I hit it!" the young man cried excitedly.

"Yea," Zidane grinned. " Great Z, now all ya have to do is hit the center," Zidane laughed ruffling the young prince's hair. 

"Dad, cut it out!" Zion cried, stepping away from his father's reach while smoothing his prized locks.

"Ahem! Zidane what have I told you about teaching our son how to use weapons?" Came Zion's mother's voice from the gate into the little green courtyard. _Uh oh, _Zion thought. _Mom's gonna kill Dad for this_. Zion turned on his heels to see his beautiful mother with his annoying little sister in tow walking towards them.

"That I can if he doesn't get dirty, or hurt, or hit anything moving aside from things already dead or that haven't lived in the first place, or, wait…. yeah, I think that's it.Of course it's not like he'd hit anything with his aim," Zion's father smiled sweetly at his mother. Zion's mother frowned and walked over to Zion.

"Zidane enough! I don't want Zion learning to use a bow they're too dangerous," she huffed to Zidane.

"Dagger, sweetie, Zion needs to learn to use a bow, they're no more deadly than Robyn and her flute," Zidane said walking over to his wife and putting his arm around her shoulder. "I mean how's he gonna snag the heart of some chick if he's getting eaten by a monster he had to get close to because his mother wouldn't let him use a bow?" the former thief asked.

"Well, he could do it the way his father did," Dagger smiled sweetly turning to her husband fully, placing her arms a crossed his shoulders.

"And how is that?" Zidane asked, looking into his wife's eyes.

"Oh God they're getting all mushy again," Zion muttered turning away from his parents to pick up the bow he had dropped.

"I think it's romantic," piped Robyn to her brother.

"Yeah, well your fifteen you think dirt is romantic," Zion muttered turning back to his two lovesick parents; just catching the reply of his mother.

"-He could follow her around, hitting on her every chance he gets; then, eventually wear her to the point of 'I give up!' and marry her," she crooned softly to Zidane. He smiled, and they kissed for what seemed to be the millionth time that day.

"I'm gone. I'd rather be staring at the walls of my room than watch my parent's be all lovey-wuvey," Zion muttered walking towards the gate.

"Wait! Zion I have to tell you something first," came his mother's voice from behind him.

"Yes mother?" he asked, more polite than he felt.

"It's about your birthday, we have arranged so that you can see the play that was written based on our adventures isn't that wonderful?" Dagger finished. Suddenly more interested Zion turned around excitement lighting up his face.

"Wow that's great mom! I can't wait," he chimed.

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Authors note: egesh! (he I made up a new word =D) I need to add one more!!! I'm sorry I just can't leave it at this it's annoying the hell outta me I'm not stable!!!! Oh p.s if I spell the Spanish numbers wrong I'm sorry I haven't written Spanish in a while and I'm a bit rusty.


	4. CHAPTER QUATREO

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Disclaimer: I do not own FFIX Square does but the children are mine mostly let's just put it this way all the peeps that you have a clue as to who they are belong to Square but the peeps that make you go who the hell is that? Those are mine so enjoy!!!

_ _

Dedication: I dedicate this chap to Ruben for being so damn hot the first time I drew him.(can you tell I'm just blowing these out my ass?)

_____________________________CHAPTER QUATREO____________________________________

Cedar sat alone in the back of the small air cab. She sat with her arms crossed over her chest, hiding her ivory top and black, silk vest. Her tail hung out over the large bench, and her long cutoffs' fringed cuffs brushed against her charcoal black boots at every turn of the cab. Her eyelids were drawn closed to keep the cab driver from making conversation.

She knew the little pudgy, cotton-ball headed man as Chippy. He was always making a move and it annoyed the hell outta her, the fact that he thought that she was interested in a guy that makes his living driving a cab.

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As if, she thought, drawing the book she held in her arms closer to her chest. She absently traced her index finger along the worn, leather binding reminiscing on when her mother had given her the book.

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It was my eighth birthday, she thought. _I'd always liked to watch Mom in her plays, and she thought I would make a great actress, so she gave me her favorite copy of 'I Want to Be Your Canary.'_

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I must have read it thousands of times. Cedar thought warmly remembering the first time she had played lead in the play. 

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Mom had been so happy seeing me portray Cornelia…She died three months later. I was twelve.

Cedar opened her eyes, the cab shuddering to a stop in the Business District station. She stood and quickly walked from the cab ignoring Chippy as he hollered something after her. She exited the station and was welcomed by the familiar site of pink cobblestone and the hustle of all Lindblum.

Cedar sighed and submerged herself into the stream of people. She quickly made for the gate just south of the station. When she got through the first gate she spotted Ruben, one of the guards stationed at the gate, and hurried towards him. The only reason she knew his name was because she thought he was cute and she flirted with him almost daily.

"Hey, Ruben," she said stopping to talk to the dark-eyed babe.

"Hello Cedar, going to visit your mother?" He smiled his smooth accent floating from between lips shaped to perfection.

"Yeah, I've gotta read this to her," Cedar smiled, pulling a piece of paper from between the yellowed pages of her book holding it open for Ruben to read.

"In honor of Prince Zion Alexander Tribal's Seventeenth birthday, the noble theater troupe Tantalus will be performing 'Quest for Gaia' a tale of travel, romance, and suffering, based on a true story. Get your tickets at the ticket box," Ruben read the poster aloud. After he finished reading it Cedar stuck it back in her book.

"Can you believe they called us 'noble'?" she grinned at Ruben.

"Yeah that's pretty neat, so when is it?" he asked, smiling back.

"Two weeks, I can't wait I'm gonna be playing lead actress," Cedar said, her grin widening.

"Really? You're going to be Queen Garnet?!" Ruben said, seeming impressed.

"Yup, well I gotta go Mom's waiting," Cedar smiled, walking away down the stairs and under the second

gate that lead to the long passage that would eventually lead her outside to where her mother Ruby rested.

After a half-hour of walking Cedar was finally at the gate. She stepped out into the warm afternoon sunshine and walked across the grassy plain. When she reached the small cherry tree that Ruby was buried under she collapsed against the trunk of the little tree.

"Hey mom," Cedar whispered to the grave.

"I brought something I thought you might like," she said, opening the book removing the notice. She read the notice aloud to the grave and when she was finished she placed it back into the book.

"Isn't that cool mom? We're gonna be performing in Alexandria again," she said, leaning against the tree, closing her eyes.

Cedar sat with her eyes closed, feeling the light breeze in the warm afternoon. She could hear the sounds of children playing wafting from the nearby park that had been established two years after the Mist had lifted and the monsters had diminished to the lower plains.

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I used to play in that park when I was little, Cedar thought drifting into a light doze.

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Author's note: *steps away from keyboard* I will not post next chap give em a break dammit…. Okay then well all I am gonna stop while I'm ahead cuz it's starting to get light out and I haven't gone to bed yet hehe been up all night typing and reading. Okay then, Kudos!!!


	5. CHAPTER FIVE(i give up using the spanish...

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Disclaimer: I do not own FFIX Square does but the children are mine mostly let's just put it this way all the peeps that you have a clue as to who they are belong to Square but the peeps that make you go who the hell is that? Those are mine so enjoy!!!

**__**

Dedication***I dedicate this to Traci she's my friend my Oreo Sis we've been through so much and yet we have never face to face. She has always cheered me when I felt ill mannered as I her I don't know how I ever lived without knowing her as I do now. So Traci if your reading this I want you to know that you're my best friend, forever…..

---------------------------SCREW THE CHAPTERS!!!--------------------------------

Cedar sat alone in the back of the small air cab. She sat with her arms crossed over her chest, hiding her ivory top and black, silk vest. Her tail hung out over the large bench, and her long cutoffs' fringed cuffs brushed against her charcoal black boots at every turn of the cab. Her eyelids were drawn closed to keep the cab driver from making conversation.

She knew the little pudgy, cotton-ball headed man as Chippy. He was always making a move and it annoyed the hell outta her, the fact that he thought that she was interested in a guy that makes his living driving a cab.

__

As if, she thought, drawing the book she held in her arms closer to her chest. She absently traced her index finger along the worn, leather binding reminiscing on when her mother had given her the book.

__

It was my eighth birthday, she thought. _I'd always liked to watch Mom in her plays, and she thought I would make a great actress, so she gave me her favorite copy of 'I Want to Be Your Canary.'_

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I must have read it thousands of times. Cedar thought warmly remembering the first time she had played lead in the play. 

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Mom had been so happy seeing me portray Cornelia…She died three months later. I was twelve.

Cedar opened her eyes, the cab shuddering to a stop in the Business District station. She stood and quickly walked from the cab ignoring Chippy as he hollered something after her. She exited the station and was welcomed by the familiar site of pink cobblestone and the hustle of all Lindblum.

Cedar sighed and submerged herself into the stream of people. She quickly made for the gate just south of the station. When she got through the first gate she spotted Ruben, one of the guards stationed at the gate, and hurried towards him. The only reason she knew his name was because she thought he was cute and she flirted with him almost daily.

"Hey, Ruben," she said stopping to talk to the dark-eyed babe.

"Hello Cedar, going to visit your mother?" He smiled his smooth accent floating from between lips shaped to perfection.

"Yeah, I've gotta read this to her," Cedar smiled, pulling a piece of paper from between the yellowed pages of her book holding it open for Ruben to read.

"In honor of Prince Zion Alexander Tribal's Seventeenth birthday, the noble theater troupe Tantalus will be performing 'Quest for Gaia' a tale of travel, romance, and suffering, based on a true story. Get your tickets at the ticket box," Ruben read the poster aloud. After he finished reading it Cedar stuck it back in her book.

"Can you believe they called us 'noble'?" she grinned at Ruben.

"Yeah that's pretty neat, so when is it?" he asked, smiling back.

"Two weeks, I can't wait I'm gonna be playing lead actress," Cedar said, her grin widening.

"Really? You're going to be Queen Garnet?!" Ruben said, seeming impressed.

"Yup, well I gotta go Mom's waiting," Cedar smiled, walking away down the stairs and under the second

gate that lead to the long passage that would eventually lead her outside to where her mother Ruby rested.

After a half-hour of walking Cedar was finally at the gate. She stepped out into the warm afternoon sunshine and walked across the grassy plain. When she reached the small cherry tree that Ruby was buried under she collapsed against the trunk of the little tree.

"Hey mom," Cedar whispered to the grave.

"I brought something I thought you might like," she said, opening the book removing the notice. She read the notice aloud to the grave and when she was finished she placed it back into the book.

"Isn't that cool mom? We're gonna be performing in Alexandria again," she said, leaning against the tree, closing her eyes.

Cedar sat with her eyes closed, feeling the light breeze in the warm afternoon. She could hear the sounds of children playing wafting from the nearby park that had been established two years after the Mist had lifted and the monsters had diminished to the lower plains.

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I used to play in that park when I was little, Cedar thought drifting into a light doze.

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Author's note: yeah my chapter hope that describes stuff and uhh thanks to my two reviewers yeah for reviewing 


	6. CHAPTER SIX

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Disclaimer: I do not own FFIX Square does but the children are mine mostly let's just put it this way all the peeps that you have a clue as to who they are belong to Square but the peeps that make you go who the hell is that? Those are mine so enjoy!!!

**__**

Dedication***I dedicate this to Traci she's my friend my Oreo Sis we've been through so much and yet we have never face to face. She has always cheered me when I felt ill mannered as I her I don't know how I ever lived without knowing her as I do now. So Traci if your reading this I want you to know that you're my best friend, forever…..

"Cedar we'll be in Alexandria soon, we're a few hours early because I need to visit some people around town. You need to stay away from the castle. Some of the guards are quite fidgety about people they aren't familiar with and since the last time you were here you were still in pigtails they won't recognize you," Blank lectured. Cedar wasn't listening very carefully, she was too busy staring at the tall castle blade out the port.

"Cedar are you listening to me?!" Blank huffed causing Cedar to turn and look at the man she called 'father.'

"Yeah, yeah I heard ya," she sighed. "But I'm gonna meet Caron at the docks is that ok? I'm not gonna have my head removed for that am I?"

"As long as you stay by the docks and don't pick a fight with anyone, can you control your sunny disposition until after we visit Zidane?" Blank said, turning around. 

"Yes, Sir!" Cedar said standing upright and saluting Blank as if she was a solider. "I shan't let you down! I will control my somewhat maniacal manner and lead us to victory!" she grinned, barely able to contain herself. Blank rolled his eyes and started towards the door.

"Remember Cedar! No monkey business!" he said over his shoulder.

"Hey I'm not Zidane!" she retorted.

"Very funny, I mean it Cedar, stay out of trouble," and with that Blank shut the door. Cedar frowned and turned back toward the small window in the bunk she shared with Fayore.

"Humph, I don't see why dad doesn't trust me, I don't get in _that_ much trouble. Do I Fayore?" she said to the small carbuncle that sat on the bed.

"I'm not answering that," Fayore stated in her pixie-like voice. Cedar turned and stared at the little creature.

"Hey your spost to be on my side!" Cedar huffed.

"I am, I said that I won't answer that question that's all," Fayore replied, a neutral look on her small face.

"Argh! Whatever!" Cedar replied, throwing her arms into the air and turning to see the ship lowering to dock. Cedar grinned and spun around.

"We're here!" she cried running towards the door, pausing to allow Fayore to hop onto her arm. The young cat girl ran through the deck to the pole that allowed quick access to the lower decks. She jumped through the hole and ran to the off load deck. She could see the dock they were going to land at in a matter of minutes. 

As Cedar stood impatiently at the open port waiting to land, she saw an armor clad woman with deep Cerulean hair walking across the landing. _Psyche_ Cedar thought, remembering one of the knights that worked under her old friend, Caron. _ I can ask Psyche to get Caron for me,_ Cedar grinned. _But she'll be gone by the time this tub lands, guess I'll have to take the express route_.

"Fayore, hang on tight we're going down now," Cedar said walking to the back of the loading/unloading deck.

"Cedar no you can't," the carbuncle pleaded, but it was too late; Cedar ran and launched herself off the platform and into a free fall. She had jumped at an angle so after falling for about fifty feet the young woman caught the chain a tenant at the castle was holding, she kicked her left foot onto the chain and used it to steady herself; then, she slid down the chain link and jumped into the air before she hit the poor man at the bottom. Flipping through the air with agile perfection she landed on her feet and ran to the young soldier. 

"Psyche! Hey!" Cedar yelled pushing her short hair away from her face. The warrior turned and smiled her black eyes finding the person calling her name.

"Hello, Cedar! Been a long time, hasn't it?" she smiled. Cedar grinned as Fayore jumped from her shoulder.

"Yeah, hey Psyche can you go get Caron for me? I need to talk to her," Cedar asked dropping to the steps that lead to the gondola docks.

"Of course, I'll go get the captain right away," Psyche smiled hurrying off. Cedar smiled and turned her attention to the city across the water. _A lot quieter here than in Lindblum,_ she thought, pushing away a strand of crimson hair that had blown into her face from the gentle breeze. She took in the scene of the whitewashed houses, the red tile roofs and the water that surrounded the whole town and smiled. She could have sat there forever if she hadn't been interrupted by the abrupt intrusion of two Pluto Knights.

"Who are you?" came suddenly from behind Cedar. She stood, spinning around, giving herself a mental kick for not hearing them, and looked at the two men who had clanked up behind her. She reconised one face from beneath the rusty armor the Pluto Knights dawned, Haagen. But the other she could not tell, he looked new; broad jaw, dark eyes, he almost looked like…_Steiner's son? Figures, mum's the General and dad's the Pluto Captain only fitting that the son be in the military too._

"So your Haagen, and you are, Steiner's son, am I right?" Cedar casually replied, ignoring the question she had been formerly asked. The knights looked slightly angered by her ignorance.

"The question is who are you?" Haggen asked.

"I am a person, who happens to be here, standing in front of quite possibly the two lowest life-forms on this planet," Cedar replied wisely, the two knight's faces turned red as they both roughly grabbed Cedar's arms.

"Alright wise ass your coming with us," Steiner's kid said gruffly.

"He speaks!" Cedar said as the two knights began to drag her towards the palace. 

"Hey take it easy jeez, this fabric is designer Lindblum!" Cedar complained as the knights continued to push her along. They suddenly stopped and tried to force Cedar to bow.

"Hey, if I need to bow I can do it myself!" she said, easily escaping the grasp of the two knights. She looked up and recognized a familiar face.

"Zidane!" she cried, flinging herself into the king's arms. She hugged the man she knew since she had been little and stood back.

"Cedar? Jeez you've grown! Haagen, Steiner, back down, it's okay this is an old friend of mine," Zidane said, dismissing the knights. The two men saluted the king and walked away.

"Steiner? You mean Timmy? The annoying kid that always ran around with his wooden sword trying to be just like his dad?" Cedar asked looking after the iron-clad men.

"Yeah can't say he's changed much, sorry when he and Haagen get together, watch out! No commoner is safe!" Zidane laughed. Cedar looked back at the king and smiled.

"So where's Blank? I came down to say hi but all I find is you," Zidane said. 

"Dad? He said that he had some errands to run and he'd be back before the show," Cedar said looking around for Caron.

"Yeah… so how are you guys doing, I haven't seen you since… you know," Zidane said falling into a silly adult game. Cedar looked back at the man and frowned. She hated it when adults did that, avoiding the subject by implying instead of coming out and saying it, as if they were afraid of hurting her feelings.

"Zidane! If you are implying that you haven't seen me since Ruby died you don't have to avoid it! She died when I was twelve I am sixteen now. I've gotten over it; I'm not gonna break down and cry," she spat rudely, staring up into the king's blue eyes.

"No you never have been the one to dwell on sadness…" Zidane sighed looking away from the girl.

"That's because I have nothing to be sad about, I'm healthy and alive so I'm gonna live," Cedar said, more spunky than she had intended. "Anyways who am I gonna be sorry for? I'm sure mum is in a lot less pain where she is now than before she died," Cedar said, remembering when her mother had died, burned alive when the aircab she had been in crashed and burst into flames. She had gotten out but died a week later from the burns. Cedar had wanted to cry but she'd never been able to, she had tried many times before. But it never seemed like she could. 

She squeezed her eyes shut remembering how awful her mother had looked in the hospital bed her skin charred and burned, deep cracks of flesh covered in blood all over her body. She had been in so much pain. Cedar still remembered the last words struggled to be spoken. _Live your life full, and may the gods lead you to happiness…_ then she had died. They had buried her by that cherry tree and Cedar visited it constantly. Cedar suddenly felt Zidane's arms around her, the way he had hugged her at the funeral; sadness and pain in his embrace. She looked up at him and saw tears in his eyes. 

"I knew Ruby, for a long time, she was like a sister to me," he whispered. Cedar smiled up at the king.

"I knew her a while too, she was like a mother to me," she said her voice on the edge of humor. Zidane laughed and stepped away from the girl. He wiped his tears away and smiled at Cedar.

"You really do act a little like her," he said. Cedar grinned and turned around suddenly remembering the little creature amiss.

"FAYORE!!!! WHERE THE HELL ARE YA??!!!!" she yelled as loud as she could making more than one guard look up in alarm at the girl. 

"….over here," came the timid reply of the carbuncle as she stepped from behind a shrub to Cedar's left.

"Fayore, get your purple ass over here!" Cedar said looking at the small figure as it timidly approached the young woman. She jumped onto Cedar's shoulder and smiled weakly.

"Are you mad at me for ditching you?" Fayore asked. Cedar stared at the little creature in disgust.

"Sure as hell, I'm pissed! If you ever do that again I will kick your arse so hard you'll kiss the moons!" Cedar said angrily to the little carbuncle. "Well now that that's settled, see ya around Ziddy, we better get back to the ship, it takes me forever to get into costume and it looks as if Caron ain't showin' up so if you see her tell 'er I'll see her at dinner," Cedar said, walking back towards the ship she had gotten off earlier.

"We're eating dinner here?" Fayore asked. Cedar looked at her little partner and frowned.

"Well well, and you tell _me_ to pay attention during briefings," she snickered to the little carbuncle who grinned sheepishly.

"Well…" she trailed off looking down at her oversized paws. Cedar grinned again and scratched behind the ear of her little friend.

"Yeah, gonna get to see Zion again bet he's a real cutie now seventeen hmm last time we saw him he was seven? Wow ten whole years…"

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Author's note: yeah special ain't it? LoL well R&R please and read all my fics!!! I need to feel loved!! Heeheee but I already do! *hugs all her readers* you guys are soo cool and totally rock for just reading and if your reply you kick ass!!!! Okay well than I'm gonna work more on this.

Ja ne!!


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